1. Technological Field
The present disclosure relates to a method, system, and computer-readable storage medium for remotely controlling a video conferencing device from a computer device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional videoconferencing systems comprise a number of end-points communicating real-time video, audio and/or data streams over and between various networks such as Wide Area Network (WAN), Local Area Network (LAN), and circuit switched networks.
A number of videoconference systems residing at different sites may participate in the same conference, most often, through one or more Multipoint Control Units (MCUs) performing, i.e., switching functions to allow the audiovisual terminals to intercommunicate properly.
As videoconferencing involves various resources and equipment simultaneously interoperating at different localizations and capabilities, there is a need for the possibility to manage the resources involved both for scheduled and ad hoc videoconferences.
Videoconferencing systems are therefore often provided with a management system. A management system is a module that is used to schedule or book resources at any given point in time. The management system allows a user to request resource usage at a given time, and either allow or disallow the usage at that time. Management systems are often used for scheduling the use of meeting rooms, network resources, video systems, etc. The management system is connected to a database containing updated information regarding all accessible resources such as, but not limited to, MCUs, gateways, routers, end-points, etc. The management system generally operates with an intuitive web interface requiring no additional installation on the user terminal other than a conventional web browser.
In a typical office environment tens or even hundreds of employees may share access to a plurality of different video conferencing systems in meeting rooms or the like. When utilizing different types of systems, operation and settings are easily forgotten. Since many employees share one or more endpoints, personal information such as last numbers called/received, speed dial listings, or the like, may be erased from such a shared endpoint.
In addition, control devices for a video conferencing device generally comprise numerical keyboards only. Numerical keyboards work well to dial numerical numbers, however, common Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), such as e-mail addresses, used in video conferencing is cumbersome to type using the multi-tap text entry available using numerical keyboards.
As most users of video conferencing devices already have a keyboard available at their desk (i.e., the keyboard connected to their computers), it is beneficial to control their desk video conferencing systems using their computer to also control their video conferencing device.
A software remote for wireless communication devices is known from U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/02235362, incorporated entirely by reference herein. However, the conventional remote control may be complex within a company LAN as it deals with communication from external devices sending requests through a firewall to a video conferencing management server which in turn, proxies the request to a specific video conferencing device or delegates the request to a management platform.